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Charged dropped in shooting

An aggravated assault charge filed against a 28-year-old Natchez man in connection with a Sunday morning shooting incident at a public housing complexwas dropped Monday evening.
Demetric Bridges, 28, of 943 Highway 61 South, Natchez, was released Monday evening following a Municipal Court hearing at City Hall.
Bridges had been arrested Sunday morning on an aggravated assault charge in a shooting incident at Apartment 11C at the Brookville Gardens complex off Everglade Avenue.
That charge was dropped during Monday’s Municipal Court hearing, during which City Prosecutor Roy Carpenter cited the state’s “Castle Doctrine,” a law which gives individuals the right to use deadly force to protect their homes.
However, the dropping of the charges against Bridges does not mean the investigation into the incident is closed, said Starkville Police Department Detective William Durr, who is investigating the case, early Monday evening.
“The investigation is ongoing and the case remains active,” said Durr on Monday.
Bridges had been held in the Clay County Jail since his arrest Sunday in what police described as a “domestic incident” that became violent.
Police learned of the shooting at 6:23 a.m. Sunday after the reported victim — a 25-year-old male — was brought to the OCH Regional Medical Center with a single gunshot wound in the left side of his lower chest, Durr said Monday.
The man, whose name is not being released due to the continuing police probe, had been shot with a handgun and was in serious condition on Sunday, Durr said.
Updated information about his medical condition could not be confirmed Monday night.
Durr and other SPD detectives continued to remain silent Monday on the circumstances of Sunday’s shooting incident on Sunday, declining to comment on reports that the shooting resulted from an attempted burglary by the reported victim into the apartment where Bridges was staying.
Durr also would not comment Monday whether other criminal charges would be filed against other individuals connected with the incident.
Anyone with information on the shooting incident is encouraged to call Durr at the Police Department at 323-4131 or Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers at 1-800-530-7151.
All Crime Stoppers tips are confidential and could result in a reward of up to $1,000 for the caller if the tip leads to an arrest in a felony crime.